The germs found inside the New York City subway are disgustingly beautiful

If you’re a germophobe, you might want to stay away from the New York City subway.

Or if you’re a typographer, designer, and photographer with a twisted fascination for germs like Craig Ward, you might want to swab a sample, take it home, put it under a microscope, and snap a picture.

Ward began taking samples of germs from across all 22 New York City subway lines this summer. For each sample, he cultivated the germs into the shape of the train line’s name, creating a depiction of the subway system that is both grotesque and captivating.

While his findings may not be 100% accurate given his less-than-precise process, he told us that his results “are true with a degree of certainty.”

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To gather samples, Ward used damp sterile sponges that were cut in the shape of the subway line’s name. He’d then put the findings into triptych soy agar and seal them in a petri dish, which cultivated growth.

Ward collected his samples during off-peak subway hours, when the trains wouldn’t be as crowded. Regardless, no one ever questioned him while he diligently sponged down the poles. “Let’s be honest, you can kind of do as you please on the subway,” Ward told Business Insider. “People are pretty tolerant.”

“Most of what I found was really very common and is no more than you’d expect to find by, say, shaking hands with a group of people before a meeting,” he said.

If you're a germophobe, you might want to stay away from the New York City subway. Or if you're a typographer, designer, and photographer with a twisted fascination for germs like Craig Ward, you might want to swab a sample, take it home, put it under a microscope, and snap a...